“Let us celebrate the everyday heroes in our schools, community colleges, and early learning centers and homes whose labor often goes unsung: the Bus Drivers who rise before dawn to make sure students get to school on time; the Custodians who work tirelessly to clean up the spills, empty the trash, and keep classrooms clean; the Cafeteria Workers who prepare and serve what, for some students, is often the only healthy meal of the day; the Pre-School Teachers who patiently start young children on a path to learning; the Child Care Providers who make it possible for so many moms and dads to work every day, confident that their children are in safe and nurturing hands.”
“On this Labor Day, we also remember the sacrifices of school employees who have weathered this difficult economy with hard choices. In the Los Angeles, Torrance, Lynwood, and Santa Monica Malibu Unified School Districts thousands of workers have opted to take furlough days over the past few years. Choosing to give up a day of pay to save a co-worker’s job and protect student services is truly a selfless and heroic act, and, in many ways, demonstrates the best of what it means to be a union member.”
“And as we celebrate labor, we cannot forget the unemployed, the under employed, the 99% who work hard yet still struggle to survive. In this election year, we vow to take action to ensure that we elect leaders who will get everyone back to work and create an economy that works for all.”
“As public workers who proudly serve our communities, we take this Labor Day to recommit our efforts to fully engage in this November’s election. We will work hard to make sure schools finally receive badly needed funds by working tirelessly for the passage of Proposition 30. And we will stand strong against corporate interests to defeat Proposition 32 and ensure that the voices of hard working people are not only honored on one day, but every day we contribute to America’s prosperity.”